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Bonfire98A

Member Since 26 Oct 2007
Offline Last Active Jun 09 2019 06:48 PM
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#109297 FW Weekly article on muralist Jimmy Joe Jenkins

Posted by Bonfire98A on 12 March 2018 - 07:15 AM

If it's blank walls he's looking for, I know of a building downtown with some empty space on it....

http://goo.gl/maps/rBszorBLZmw




#107405 Reit plans to demolish Westchester Tower and redevelop as mixed use

Posted by Bonfire98A on 20 November 2017 - 01:44 PM

Per FB group FW Memories, the strip center behind Westchester is being demo'ed....

 

https://www.facebook...25110657644698/




#106792 Alliance Airport

Posted by Bonfire98A on 20 October 2017 - 12:28 PM

I would love to see the airport construct a large Doppler radar dome on top of their cone-shaped control tower, and then use LED lighting (a la Arlington's Skymark Tower) to shine appropriate colors on the dome (think mint chocolate chip, orange sherbet, Neapolitan, etc.).  Never mind whether or not it's practical or even necessary, it just sounds fun!




#105714 Rooftop Signs

Posted by Bonfire98A on 13 September 2017 - 09:54 AM

Don't forget Kincaid's....

 

112561bfc2b143034ec3ccbb36d5ede8b00f5b9d




#104127 Springhill Suites Stockyards - 2315 N. Main

Posted by Bonfire98A on 07 July 2017 - 01:33 PM

Something else interesting I just discovered -- immediately to the north of the Wedge is an apparent mini-Wedge at 2341 N Main, facing the opposite direction of its bigger sibling.  Take a look here.




#103547 Buildings Designed to be Expanded Vertically

Posted by Bonfire98A on 07 June 2017 - 10:13 PM

I saw your Facebook postthis evening about Fort Worth's Woolworth Building, and it instantly made me think of the Hearst Tower in New York, which consists of a six-story base built in 1928 and 40 more stories added in 2006.  How neat would it be to see something similar in Fort Worth?  With all the new hotel space coming into downtown, that would certainly be a unique opportunity (not to mention other buildings so constructed).




#103322 Fort Worth Moves into 13th Place

Posted by Bonfire98A on 26 May 2017 - 07:19 AM

 

The Census Bureau now estimates Fort Worth's population at 854,113 as of 2016.  We are now just 1000 less than Indianapolis and 6000 less than Columbus.  We will pass them this year to move into 14th place in the U.S.  Very well could pass San Francisco into 13th place before the next official census. Probably will not pass Jacksonville, but not impossible for 12th place.

 

All the leapfrogging and number crunching is very interesting. But the number I watch most is the Dallas Fort Worth ranking. Because any given city can fall behind another. But that don't mean that city is losing population. It can mean that another city is growing faster. So it looks like Fort Worth will soon be within 5 ranks of Dallas ? That is a game changer ! With that gap continuing to close still. To think Fort Worth could one day be a bigger city than Dallas in my lifetime. I never thought that could even be close to ever happening.

 

 

FW wouldn't be the first US city to leapfrog a more well-known neighbor, as San Jose, CA has been bigger than San Francisco since at least the 1990 census.




#103245 Formerly vacant landmarks

Posted by Bonfire98A on 24 May 2017 - 08:33 AM

I have vague childhood memories of going into the T&P Terminal building back in the '80s when it hosted HUD offices -- my dad was a homebuilder in Wichita Falls and had to visit on occasion, and once in a while he took me with him.  I never could have imagined back then that I'd eventually work downtown and catch the train there.




#102726 Public Plazas and Pavilions

Posted by Bonfire98A on 01 May 2017 - 10:59 AM

With GWS on the verge on being surrounded by hotels, it is time to consider how to improve the park's pedestrian appeal. 

 

A start should be closing Main Street between 8th and 9th Streets to motor traffic which will eliminate parking along both sides of the street.   The idea is to have traffic circulate around the park as traffic similarly to how traffic moves around Sundance Square Plaza.

 

Well, Main Street's usefulness as a primary downtown thoroughfare has already pretty much been compromised by closing it between 3rd and 4th for the plaza, leaving the remainder in two short, disconnected segments -- should the City eventually just consider turning the whole thing into a pedestrian mall with traffic lights at the cross streets?




#102292 Elon Musk is teasing Texas again - Hyperloop

Posted by Bonfire98A on 12 April 2017 - 01:11 PM

 

Like on a subway? :)

I have far more confidence in this actually happening than any other willy-nilly high speed rail project on the board.

Years ago I worked on a newspaper (Oklahoma) that had the old fashioned pneumonic tube delivery system.  The reporter would take his copy to the city desk for editing and the editor (after the final proofreading) would put the finished copy in a canister for travel in the tube to the copy setters and printers, located in the building's basement.  Believe it or not, at that time I wondered why people couldn't travel the same speedy way.

 

 

It works for cats....

 

https://www.theatlan...c-tubes/278629/




#102260 Hyatt House

Posted by Bonfire98A on 10 April 2017 - 03:23 PM

That green space between the Kimbell and Will Rogers would be the perfect spot....   :laugh: 




#102096 state-wide texting ban proposed

Posted by Bonfire98A on 04 April 2017 - 01:40 PM

This sounds like one of those reactionary bills where elected officials feel pressured to "do something now" for the sake of getting something done, without having fully thought it through.  From the FWBP article, it also sounds like a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses type of bill, not wanting to look bad compared to other states.  My current home city of Hurst has passed such an ordinance already, and it says drivers are not allowed to view or manipulate the screen (unless it is being used for GPS purposes), and even goes so far as to say drivers cannot hold it like a phone, in a talking or listening position.  

 

Mark Davis brought this up on his talk show this morning, and also posted a column in the DMN on the subject -- he agrees that laws like these are unenforceable, and suggests having these cases fall under the purview of existing laws on negligent and reckless driving




#100819 Fort Worth City Hall Changes Address

Posted by Bonfire98A on 26 January 2017 - 09:38 AM

If you Google Edward Durell Stone, you'll see he had quite a few designs that I think most of us would agree are far more interesting and aesthetically pleasing.  He was the primary architect for Radio City Music Hall of all places (though Donald Deskey was in charge of the art-deco interior).  

 

Considering what used to be on the site, the old 1896 Post Office (search the Jack White collection for pics), it's only karma that we ended up with the pile of crap that's there now.  It isn't even all that original; it's simply a scaled-down and simplified version of Boston City Hall.  

 

I used to work there too -- the building is very inefficient in how it's laid out; the ground floor is practically all atrium with relatively little usable space.  In fact, I always used to hear that the design and layout were originally intended for an art museum.

 

P.S.  One more thing -- City Hall's entry on the main site describes the "City Place Cafe" on the third floor.  This restaurant closed some years ago (it was more of a lunch line for city employees, though anyone could eat there).  I don't know if it was ever reopened, but you may want to confirm its status before updating the FWA page.




#100166 TEXRail

Posted by Bonfire98A on 15 December 2016 - 04:38 PM

Here's a FWST articleabout today's signing ceremony for the completion of the TEXRail federal funding.  I would have used TEXRail quite often had it been available when I worked in downtown FW, and may use it yet if I get another job downtown or otherwise want to go back and visit.

 

I do have to say there was one quote within that rubbed me the wrong way, though.

 

“Ten years ago, people said you’ll never get Bubba out of his pickup,” said North Richland Hills Mayor Oscar Trevino, a long-time TEX Rail advocate. “Well, the people coming here aren’t coming from Monahans and Pecos, Texas. They know about rail. They want rail.”

 

How arrogant, condescending and elitist can you get?  I originally came here from Wichita Falls, and have no qualms at all about using rail when it's convenient and safe, so I don't appreciate jabs like this.  He sounds like one of those stuck-up coastal patricians looking down his nose at the benighted masses in flyover country.  I'm glad I don't live in NRH if this is who they chose for the center seat at their council meetings.




#100019 Rangers, Arlington and the Ballpark

Posted by Bonfire98A on 09 December 2016 - 02:52 PM

U.S. Bank Stadium's baseball setup is only good for college baseball... and that's the way I should be. It's absolutely horrible for the Majors. That's why you don't see those types of stadiums anymore.

As far as the current Ballpark in Arlington goes... I'm pretty sure y'all already know my thoughts on it.

 

Obviously AT&T Stadium would make for a less than ideal baseball venue, given its primarily rectangular configuration for football.  But knowing what we know now, if it had been built to accommodate baseball, we wouldn't even be talking about Arlington building its fourth major professional stadium (well, since the first one was old Arlington Stadium, let's say three-and-a-half).  

 

I guess I'd rather have seen the home schedule split between GLP and AT&T during the summer months, with the Rangers playing in both venues for many years to come, than to see what is happening now, with a perfectly good ballpark about to get replaced.  It just all seems so incredibly wasteful.